Astros left-hander Wandy Rodriguez has been scratched from his scheduled Tuesday start and is going to be sidelined for the next week or so due to tendinitis in his throwing shoulder. This according to Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle, who began his story on the matter with a great sentence:

The closest thing to a sure thing on a team with no sure things just became a lot less of a sure thing.

That just about sums it up. Rodriguez posted a sparkling 3.60 ERA and 1.29 WHIP across 32 starts last season for fourth-place Houston, striking out 178 batters in 195 innings and walking only 68.

The Astros inked the 32-year-old southpaw to a three-year, $34 million contract extension this winter and will have to hope that he can get his shoulder back to 100 percent by Opening Day. The ‘Stros open their regular season schedule on April 1 with a three-game series against the Phillies.